A Wind Among the Waters
by TailofKyuubi
Summary: AU: What if the War of the Nations hadn't ended when Sozen's comet returned? What if the Avatar and the Earth Kingdom had to rely on one of their greatest enemies? And what if a power hungry Admiral got what he always wanted? Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

Allelujah! My first Avatar fanfic, and I solemnly swear that no OC's or Mary-Sues shall ever invade this tale. There's just way to much of that "Random Secret Everythingbending ZukoFangirl Avatar who's a hundred times stronger than Aang" bullshit in this fandom, so let's all work dilligently to make coherent Avatar fanfiction, mmmkay?

Disclaimer: I don't own A: tLA; some crackheads at Nick do. How sad.

A/N: Rated "T" for violence and some sexuality. The rating might go up in later chapters.

A Wind Among the Waters 

**Chapter One: The Tower**

Zuko stared at the sun-streaked clouds over the water. He'd seen many sunsets at sea, but this was different. He sat on the edge of the window of an enormous tower, cast on a rocky island in the middle of the sea. A tower; and a prison. Zuko picked up a stone from the sill and rubbed it in his hand. He threw it and counted the seconds until it hit the water. _Ten…twelve…fifteen…_and then a splash. Too high a drop to jump, though he had contemplated doing so many times, at first to escape, and then…for a different reason altogether.

"You still lookin' at the sunset?"

Zuko turned and faced the man inside the tower room; a gruff, humorless fire soldier with whom he'd spent the last eight years of his life. The man had never told him his name, only admitting his part in the attempt on Fire Lord Ozai's life that had brought him to the tower as well. They were both captives, but for vastly different reasons. Still, they understood one another.

"I wonder," Zuko muttered tonelessly, "If I jumped, do you suppose I'd shatter my bones on the rocks or drown in the sea?"

The soldier laughed. "If you're wise you'll do niether," he said. "No, it's best we accept the hand life gave us, ain't it? Can't change what happened in the past. Hell, even if I could, I'd have still taken my hand to the Fire Lord!"

Zuko watched the old man spit on the floor and sighed. For some reason, he'd never had the heart to tell the man about Ozai's illness, or about Admiral Zhao—no, _Fire Lord Zhao_'s rise to power. It wouldn't have mattered if he did, anyway. Let an old man relive his glory days. He had nothing else to look foreward to. Zuko slid inside and took a slab of meat from the tray on the floor. It was tastleless, but he had grown accustomed to that. Time in the tower wore on, and he was hungry. As he ate, he stared out the window again.

The war of the Nations had not gone according to plan. Zuko thought about the events that had led up to this moment with strangly little regret. He thought of the day when he'd gotten the news of his father's attempted _coup_ _d'etat_ of the Earth Kingdom's capitol, and the tale of Sozen's comet, and what it could do. He thought of the day his father had suddenly fallen gravely ill with a mysterious sickness of the blood. He thought of the day, not long after, when Zhao and his men had boarded his ship and taken him here to rot in a cell. With a twinge of pain, he remembered how his Uncle had tried to defend him, and fallen to the dagger hidden behind Zhao's back. When he thought about his Uncle, anger flared up in him, and he desperatly wished he could escape. But that was impossible.

Zuko had considered every ecsape plan he could think of, and he knew none of them would work. The door to the room was made of iron, and locked form the outside. The only person who could get in or out was the servant who brought the meat. Anyway, even if he did get out of the room, it made little difference. The tower was on an isolated island, miles away from any other civilization, and it was impossible to swim that far. _If only I had a flying bison_, Zuko thought whimsily, then shook his head. It was best not to think of the Avatar, and all that he had lost.

There were only two ways things could go now. He could grow old and die in the tower, or he could jump and die beneath it.

While Zuko stared at the sky, Aang stared at the fire. It crackled and popped, though that sound was drowned out by the voices of his friends.

"Yeah, I know the west border of Shan Grei is well protected, but it's our best bet for the land troops!" Aang smiled as Sokka's deep voice carried from the tent where he and Vega—one of the Earth Kingdom's best generals—were arguing. They were in the camp of the last Earthbending soldiers, preparing for their next move. Soon the Earth Kingdom would mobilize against the Fire Nation's capitol. If they were lucky, and they had been in the past, they might be able to end the war.

"There's no way we can break those defences, Sokka!" Roared Vega. "Our soldiers are worn down, and we've lost nearly a third of our forces. Attacking Shan Grei now is suicide! The truth of the matter is, we shouldn't even be here now. It was sheer luck that Ozai was attacked with blood sickness before the comet arrived. If not for the chaos among the army of the Fire Nation, we would have never gotten this far."

Both Sokka and the general came out of the tent with angry looks on their faces. Sokka hadn't grown much taller since he was a boy, but his body and face reflected strength. General Vega, however, had a tall, gaunt body, severely short hair, and feirce looks. He surveyed the camp where the Earth Kingdom's forces had converged with his dark eyes. Aang hadn't trusted him when they had first met eight years before, but he had proven himself in battle time and again.

"Mabye it wasn't just luck," said Aang thoughfully, looking away from the fire and toward his freinds, "maybe it was the will of the gods that Ozai never got his chance to use the comet's power."

Katara smiled at Aang from her brother's side, but both Sokka and Vega snorted in disgust. "If you credit the gods for that, why not blame them for making the comet in the first place?" barked the general. "The only real fortune we have is that fool Zhao. I hear the Fire soldiers call him 'Zhao the Worthless' behind his back, and they're right. Even if he is a strong warrior, he's a pretty dumb tactitian."

"That, and a horrible ruler," Katara pointed out. "That's what the captives have been telling us, right? That he doesn't even care about his people; that he lazes around all the time, just eating and drinking?"

Vega frowned. "That's true, but the Fire Nation still has more manpower than we could ever hope to have. Ten times as many warriors, and all of them are benders. Even if their leader is weak, they still have a huge advantage over us."

Aang lowered his eyes. As a boy, he'd had friends among the Fire Nation's people, and it pained him to think about how they must be suffering under Zhao—ordinary people who never wanted war. People like him, who never wanted to kill anyone. Yet Aang had killed, and he understood that there was no peacful way to stop the march of the Firebenders. He looked at the grim faces of his friends, hardened by fighting and sacrifice, and a sudden thought came to him.

"But there_ is_ something they don't have," Aang muttered as he stared into the fire. "They don't have a prince. I bet if we could find Price Zuko, the people would listen to him instead of the Fire Lord."

Aang looked up when he realized that everyone was staring at him. "What?"

Vega laughed. "Of course! That's brilliant! With Ozai out of commision and the Fire Lord wasting his country away, the people are bound to want a real leader."

Sokka lept to his feet. "Yeah, and that jerk Zuko hates Zhao, so it'd be easy to convince him to help us." He paused. "There's just one problem with your idea, Aang."

"What's that?"

"Zuko was exiled when Zhao took over. They sent him to some prison somewhere, and nobody's seen him for eight years. How are we gonna find him now?"

"Easy," said General Vega with a broad grin. He called to one of the soldiers nearby. "You, go round up a spy party! I need you to discover the whereabouts of the former Prince of the Fire Nation."

Well, how was that for a first chapter? Can Aang's group find Prince Zuko? Will Zuko join them if they do? And what's going on in the Fire Nation? All this and more in chapter two!

Next Time: Zhao the Worthless 


	2. Zhao the Worthless

Here's chapter two! Our Heros are waiting for Aang to return with Prince Zuko, Zuko himself is having nightmares, and one former Admiral is falling quickly into a state of paranoia…

Disclaimer: I don't own A: tLA, some penguin herders at Nick do. Go figure.

A Wind Among the Waters Chapter 2: Zhao the Worthless 

_It's good to be King_, Zhao thought as he gently picked a sinew of meat from his teeth. He smiled and closed his eyes. Nothing in his twenty years of military training could have prepared him for what it meant to be a Lord. He was surrounded with every pleasure imaginable, wine, women, and gold. He felt powerful beyond his wildest dreams, though perhaps that was only an aftereffect of the thing in the vail that he had become fond of drinking. It really didn't matter, because a Fire Lord had nothing to fear from anyone, and Zhao certainly wasn't afraid of the old man kneeling before him, begging helplessly for his son.

"Please," the old man whined, bowing his head to the ground, "My boy is only sixteen! You have older warriors to fight for you. I beg you, let him stay here!"

Zhao smiled. He got up and strode briskly to the man. At last he had an opportunity to stretch his muscles, and his temper. "Your son has shown fine potential as a soldier, Gisan," he said in a calm, friendly voice. "He doesn't need your concern. Unless, of course, it's not _his_ ability you worry about."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his guards' faces visibly tighten. They knew enough about the Lord to know that he was about to do something terrible. He almost flashed them a smile, but he held himself back. Let them think what they will. They don't frighten me; no more than the old man.

No, he didn't fear the man, he feared what the man represented, a lack of faith. The people of the Fire nation hated him, and they were slowly ceasing to hide it. Zhao the Worthless, the guards called him, and now they didn't even bother whispering it behind his back. The man was small; Zhao knew he would break easily. He must destroy the traitors one by one, and soon the acts of rebellion would stop.

The man looked up, uncertainty and, yes, _fear_ slowly creeping into his eyes. "What—what do you mean, Lord Zhao?"

"Perhaps," he whispered icily, "perhaps you don't trust your son's life in my hands. Perhaps you think me incapable of protecting your precious brat's life."

Zhao grabbed the old man's sholder in an iron grip. "Perhaps you would seek to defy me, Gisan?" His voice has risen to a roar, and his fingers gripped tighter and tighter until, with a sickening _snap_, he felt the old man's bones shatter. He smiled cruelly as the old man slid to the floor and whimpered in pain. Zhao turned to the scowling soldiers and roared, "Take this garbage to the dungeon, _now!_" Then he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, in the direction of his chambers.

"Godhand!" He called as he swung open the steel door to his lavish room. "Godhand, I need you, now!"

He waited, tapping his foot impatiently. Then, with a quiet rustle of the velvet window curtains, _he_ appeared. Godhand; wrapped in a black cloak with his face hidden by a tight fitting cloth. Zhao thought he smiled by the way the cloth pulled, but it might have only been his imagination. He did not imagine Godhand's bow, and the assasin who had served him for years said quietly, "My Lord wishes something of me?"

The assasin's voice had always made Zhao shudder pleasantly. It was cold, calculated, and full of cruelty. "Yes, my friend, there's something I'm in dire need of."

Before Zhao coud see him move, Godhand had dissapeared, and reappeared again inches behind him. "My, my," he said gently, running one finger down the small of Zhao's back, "I wonder what my dear Fire Lord could possibly desire?"

"Not that, Godhand! There isn't time now. I think a rebellion is building in the capitol, right under our noses."

The assasin laughed. "If that's so, we'll squash the rebels like bugs under our feet. The people of this land have grown soft, unlike my Lord. They're no threat."

Zhao growled and threw his sashes to the floor. "If these rebels can convince the citizens to stage a revolt, they could be a _very_ serious threat. I want you to find the rebel leaders, and kill them. Understood?"

"Understood." He smiled and took the gnarled sword from the sheath behind his back. Gently, he ran the blade along the length of his employer's face. "I shall destroy any man who threatens the life of Lord Zhao."

The assasin sheathed his blade and turned to go. "However, my Lord," he said, his mask once again progecting the presence of a smile, "I expect due reward when I return."

The killer called Godhand dissapeared into the gloom of the evening, and Zhao laughed. No one could match the power he possesed. It really was good to be king.

"I will not let you harm my nephew!"

_Iroh…why? Why did you bother protecting a fool like me? I never did anything for you…just got in the way…_

"Do you understand what you're doing? Defying the Fire Lord is high treason!"

Fire Lord? Zhao…Zhao is not the Fire Lord, he couldn't be… 

"I do not intend to deft my brother, only the man who seeks to usurp him!"

_No, don't be a fool, Uncle! Zhao has no pride…he isn't like you…he isn't like me, Uncle…_

"You senial old bastard! I should have done this long ago!"

_A flash…Uncle, the knife! Please, you musn't fight him, Uncle!_

Zuko watched the steel of the knife buried into Iroh's side. He saw Zhao snarling, and the crew—watching silently, saying nothing as their General sank to the floor in a pool of blood. He stared at the old man's limp body; those friendly eyes opened wide in pain and horror.

_Why? Why did this happen? I don't want power…I never wanted power like Zhao did. So why is this happening to me? If only I had captured the Avatar, none of this would have happened._

And there was the Avatar, looking at him with that stupid, childish grin. Only, it wasn't really childish anymore. His face was different; longer, less round, but he was still the boy that Zuko had failed to destroy. _If only I had captured the Avatar…_

"You never give up, do you?" The boy asked, and Zuko blinked as he realized he wasn't dreaming. The Avatar put a finger to his lips and pointed at the peacefully snoring soldier at the other side of the room. He smiled again, and motioned Zuko to the window. _I must still be dreaming_, he thought, but he silently obeyed, and looked below the windowsill. He really hoped he was awake, and the flying bison hovering quietly beneath the tower window wasn't an illusion.

"Hop on," Aang demanded in a whisper, "I'll explain everything once we're out of here."

Zuko hesitated. Should he really believe his luck? What were the chances of the Avatar knowing he was here? How could he have found this place without being captured by the military? He hesitated, but the boy gave him a stern look and motioned for him to climb onto the bison's back. He decided that even if he _was_ walking into a trap, it was better than staying in the tower, so he jumped down onto the saddle. The Avatar patted the beast's head, and with a call of "Yip, yip!" they flew away into the night.

A long time passed before they spoke. At last, Zuko couldn't stand the silence any longer. He called to the boy.

"Where are you taking me, Avatar?"

"I have a name, and it's not 'Avatar'. It's Aang."

"Fine, _Aang_," he said impatiently, " Now, where are you taking me?"

The boy looked ahead and turned the bison's reins sharply to the left. "To the Earth Kingdom's camp," he said quietly.

"_What?_" Zuko lurched foreward. "Are you insane? If you take me to the Earthbenders, they'll kill me!"

"Nope, I'm a hundred percent sure they won't kill you. After all, they're the ones who need your help." He laughed. "They really wanted to find you. It'd be a waste of all their hard work."

Zuko groaned in exasperation and flopped down on his back. _The Earth Kingdom wanted to find him, did they? Did they want him to fight his own countrymen? Or were the earthbenders going to torture secrets out of him?_ The Ava—Aang might be flying him towards his death. He looked at the kid; well, he wasn't really a kid now. He was almost Zuko's height, and aparently stronger than he had been, but he still laughed like a kid. Did this idiot really know what the earthbenders were up to?

Zuko opened his mouth to ask, but he stopped himself. Really, he should be grateful. He could still be locked in the tower, wasting away, but instead he was free, with the wind cooling his face as he rode on a flying bison; even if that bison _was_ headed toward an unknown, and possibly dangerous, destination.

Chapeter two draws to a close, and questions abound! Who is the mysterious killer Godhand? Will Zuko and Vega be able to agree on a plan without slitting each other's throats? And is there really a resistance movement in the Fire Nation? Find out next chapter!

**Next Time: In the Camp of the Earth Kingdom**


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